Could Aston Martin be planning to make the AM V10, a mid-engined supercar with the underpinnings of the Lexus LFA?
A recent conversation with a ‘Man from Aston Martin’ yielded an interesting slip – the Aston Martin AM V10.
In discussion about future Aston plans, the AM V10 was mentioned by the man from Gaydon, but only in passing. Yes, it could have been a simple garbling of words, but could it be a car Aston Martin are now taking seriously?
For those who don’t remember, the Aston Martin AM V10 was a car rumoured to be in the mix to give AM a real headline car when Ford sold Aston Martin Lagonda five years ago. The rumours came to nothing and Aston Martin went on to build the One-77 instead.
But now, with production of the One-77 all done (and word on the grapevine that AM made more profit from the One-77 than they ever have from any of their mainstream models) are Aston Martin about to go the hypercar route one again, but this time with a first for Aston – a mid-engined supercar (well, front mid-engined, perhaps)?
Logically, if Aston can pull it off, the AM V10 seems a no-brainer. The car world is about to see a raft of mid-engined hypercars including the new McLaren F1, Ferrari F70, Porsche 918 Spyder and Jaguar C-X75 and it makes sense for Aston Martin to try and grab a piece of that pie if they can.
The obvious problem is how, with limited resources, a limited engine range and only one basic chassis can Aston Martin consider a mid-engine hypercar?
Step forward the relationship with Toyota – and its presence at Gaydon with the Cygnet – and maybe we have a clue? Perhaps Aston Martin are planning to take the Lexus LFA’s architecture and engine to create a gentleman’s hypercar with a £1 million price tag?
As we said, a lot of specualtion. But isn’t the prospect appealing?
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